"The history of the sword is the history of mankind", a bold statement by Sir Richard Burton in the late nineteenth century, yet one that holds a ring of truth to it. This weapon and powerful symbol has its ancestry millennia before recorded history, many centuries before the legendary Achilles and Hector are said to have fought before the walls of Troy . Dazzling gold in the Anatolian sunshine, one can see the weapons of Homer's heroes cutting swathes through living masses of lesser men. If the tale is myth, the ferocity of these ancient warriors was not and the weapons they wielded were as brutal as they were beautiful. Forget any rumours you may read of, or any authorities pronouncing with learned confidence that these were symbolic or ritual weapons. We know today through careful study with exact replicas that these prehistoric swords would have been lethal tools of combat.

The origins of these first swords lie shrouded in the prehistory of humankind, back in an age when the first metals were being cast and forged by men. The ancient swords of bronze in all their many forms open a unique window on the past, bringing together the finest craftsmanship and technological brilliance – a true art form in its own right.